Improvement in hoop-skirts



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. ATWOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN HOOP-SKIRTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56,5 12, dated July 24,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. ATWOOD, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hoop-Skirts; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description ofthe improvement and operation of my invention, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing. (Marked Fig. I.)

The nature of my invention consists in constructing a skirt ofhorizontal hoops and upright strips or pendants, combined and arrangedas follows The upper part of the skirt I construct, in the usual manner,of horizontal hoops A A A, as seen in the drawing, and the lower part ofstrips B B B, made of steel or other suitable material, and suspendedfrom one of the horizontal hoops, as seen in the drawing, where I haverepresented them as attached to the third from the bottom of thehorizontal hoops A A A, and passing interiorly of the second horizontalhoop and outside of the bottom one. This interweaving of several of thehorizontal hoops and the pendants B B B serves to keep the latter inplace, and yet secures a mobility of parts very much to be desired; but,to keep the strips B B B from swinging too far out of position, I placeclasps l 2 3 on the lower horizontal hoop. These afford slots, in whichthe pendants B B B have more or less motion back and forth on the outersurface of the lower horizontal hoop.

The ends of the pendants B B B are tipped with small beads or balls,made of brass, rubber, or other suitable material. The upper ends areattached to one of the horizontal hoops by means of a set of clasps, D DD.

The object of my invention is to provide a skirt that shall possess thedesired form and contour, and yet relieve the wearer from the toofrequent annoyance produced by stepping upon the hoops or getting thementangled in some obstruction that may lie in the path.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

Constructing a hoop-skirt of horizontal hoops and the pendants B B B,combined and arranged substantially as described and set forth.

JAMES E. ATWOOD.

Witnesses MATTHEW BROWN, G. D. M. VRooM.

